Eight years for man who set fire to motorhome with partner locked inside

A Manitoba man who set a motor home on fire while his partner was trapped inside has been sentenced to eight years in prison.

Adam Bujak, 51, was convicted after trial earlier this year of arson to property, aggravated assault and two counts of breaching a no-contact order in relation to the April 2024 fire.

The 50-year-old victim — who told a sentencing hearing last month she was responsible for setting the fire — suffered burns to 35 per cent of her body before escaping from the motorhome. She spent three months in hospital.

“Mr. Bujak violently assaulted his vulnerable intimate partner, causing horrible injuries to her,” said provincial court Judge Mark Kantor.

Bujak took no responsibility for setting the fire and has shown no insight into his behaviour, Kantor said.

Given an opportunity to address court at his sentencing hearing last month, Bujak expressed regret for the “horrible incident” and the harm it caused “the woman I love,” then went on to complain about how difficult jail has been for him.

“Mr. Bujak acknowledged the pain suffered by (the victim) and his desire to help her, however much of his comments, leaning to the majority, centred on his own challenges in jail,” Kantor said. “I don’t minimize this hardship…. but he seems to lament his personal struggles more than (the victim’s).”

Court heard Bujak and the woman had been living together on her rural property in the RM of Macdonald since early 2020, around the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and ran a dog rescue operation.

The pandemic dealt a harsh blow to the operation and the couple’s relationship as they struggled with mental-health issues, financial problems and claims of infidelity.

By 2024, Bujak was bound by a court order not to live on the property and have no contact with the woman. The couple defied the court order and resumed living together in late April 2024.

On April 28, the woman was sitting on a bench inside the motor home and Bujak was standing in the doorway holding a jerry can full of gasoline. The woman had been drinking. Bujak was sober.

“Don’t light me on fire, man, better stop trying to light me on fire,” the woman can be heard saying on a recording of a 911 call placed at 5:36 p.m. “Get the … gas out of here right now… . Setting me on fire now, go away.”

Seven minutes later the woman called 911 again and told an operator she had been set on fire.

“I’m on fire right now, property is burning down,” the woman said. “My skin is burning off. Everything is going down, the whole … yard is going down. Oh my God, it is exploding. Please hurry, my skin is falling off.”

Neighbours saw smoke from the fire and arrived minutes later. They found the woman on the ground in great pain with severe burns all over her body.

Court heard Bujak lay with the woman and gave her water, then wandered around the property in a distraught state before emergency responders arrived.

Neighbours asked the woman if Bujak was responsible for the fire. She told them Bujak poured gas on her, locked the door to the motorhome and set it on fire. The woman said she broke a window to escape.

While Bujak may not have planned to set the fire, he showed “persistence in his actions,” Kantor said.

“(The victim) implored him not to light her on fire,” Kantor said. “Despite her protests, Mr. Bujak continued his actions.”

Last week, before a different judge, Bujak was sentenced to 90 days in jail for contacting the woman in violation of a court order following his arrest.

“Given this pattern, I am very concerned he has little to no insight into his offending behaviour,” Kantor said.

Bujak received credit for time served, reducing his remaining sentence to just over five years.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca